Greenland forms council on human rights
“There are some challenges which we need to address, resolve, and make visible.”
Greenland has a new council devoted human rights, which first met earlier this month in Nuuk.
Its purpose: to advance and protect human rights in Greenland, and to contribute and improve the general knowledge and capacities regarding human rights in Greenland, a news release on the council said.
Created by the Greenland parliament last December, the Greenland Council on Human Rights comprises appointees from various public organizations, institutions and authorities.
The council is an independent entity, with an advisory role.
At its March 4 meeting, the council adopted rules of procedure and appointed a chairman and vice-chairman for a two-year period.
Hjalmar Dahl, the vice-president of Inuit Circumpolar Council-Greenland, was elected chairman, with Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, the children’s spokesperson for the Childrens’ Rights Institution, elected as the council’s vice-chairman.
“I am honored that the council unanimously elected me chairman, and I am looking forward to include the general public in the process,” Dahl said. “Establishing the Greenland Human Rights Council is historic and is based upon broad support in Inatsisartut (the Greenlandic parliament.) From a global perspective the human rights situation in Greenland is good, but there are some challenges which we need to address, resolve, and make visible.”
The director for the Institute for Human Rights in Denmark, Jonas Christoffersen, who also attended the meeting and presented the Institute and its work on human rights in Denmark, said his institute is ready to work with the new council on human rights issues in Greenland.
At its organizing meeting, the council members decided to launch a public information campaign.
At the same time, they decided to analyze the challenges to human rights from the perspective of their respective organizations.
The Council plans start the next meeting with a one-day workshop on human rights, as seen from a Greenlandic context, in collaboration with the Institute for Human Rights in Denmark.
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